Something to Live For
by NightRain0
Summary: Kadaj is given another chance at life in a different world. But how will he use his second chance? Will he still chase after Jenova and his false dreams? Or will he find something else to live for?
1. Prologue

NightRain0: Yay! My first Final Fantasy fic! It's for my friend Amy who says that there's no love for Kadaj! So as a Christmas gift, I'm writing one for her! Btw folks, this is not a yaoi fic (Amy would kill me if it was…). Anyways, I don't own any of the FF characters which show up here!

Something To Live For

Prologue (Asano's POV)

The planet Earth, it's a shameful excuse for a planet if you ask me. Ruled by a corrupt government, we citizens live in constant fear and terror. Suicides, murders, you name it, I've seen it all. In fact, I have yet to get through a day without seeing anyone die. As for me, I continue to live in this dismal world, why? Sometimes I question that myself…

My name is Hotaka Asano, but everyone calls me Asano around these parts. Although life here was very harsh, suicide and death are not options for me. Because I have something to live for, and that was what kept me going.

It was sometime in the winter when I first saw him, don't ask me for the date though because remembering meaningless stuff like dates is overrated. My kid brother, Hiroshi, and I were on our way back home when we spotted him. To be exact, it was Hiroshi who spotted him. I, on the other hand, would have walked straight on and would have ignored that half-dead person near the alleyway.

"Onii-chan (big brother)," called out Hiroshi. "There's someone there."

I peered into the alleyway and sure enough, there was someone there. A half-dead and half frozen someone that is. He was about my age, maybe seventeen or eighteen? I dunno, and I didn't really care that much. What caught my eye however was the guy's silver hair. I doubt that anyone could have been born with silver hair. Was he one of the…maybe not.

Anyways, after the last few incidents I had with helping strangers from the streets, I decided that it was more trouble than it was worth. This one looked like a spoiled brat to me, which makes helping him a definite no! If there was one thing I didn't need, it was a spoiled brat to look after. I was about to leave when Hiroshi grabbed my arm and pulled me back. It was that "you-have-to-help-look" again…

"Onii-chan," he whimpered. "He's gonna die if we don't do something."

"I don't want to," I replied without thinking. "He's going to die soon anyways."

Then the silver-haired man let out a moan and twitched a bit. Dammit! Stupid kid! Why didn't you stay dead? This made Hiroshi kneel by the man's side and look at me with his "Onii-chan-please-help-look". I normally can't stand taking orders (I prefer giving them), however, when it comes to my little brother…it seems that he's the only one who can give me an order and still walk away without bullet holes through them.

With a sigh, I walked over to the silver-haired man and took a look at him. The guy's insides weren't really…well, inside of him, so I kinda stuffed them back in and used a spare piece of cloth to bandage the wound. I'd get a doctor to look at him later, but at the moment, I think he'd be fine (I hope). Anyways, I leaned him against my shoulder and proceeded to drag him back to our home.

"Thank you Onii-chan!" chirped Hiroshi as he trotted along besides me and my burden.

I said nothing and we continued to walk on in silence. As the pure white snow began to descend upon us, I began to think a bit about how this event would play out. I was sure that this guy would be more trouble than the others. Also, I was pretty sure that if one of us was to die during this fiasco, that someone was most likely me…

"Dammit you," I said to the unconscious burden. "Why didn't you die sooner…?"

NightRain0: Hoped you all liked it! Please R&R!


	2. Chapter 1

NightRain0: Here's the first chapter! Hope you all like it! (I don't own any Final Fantasy characters)

* * *

Something To Live For 

Chapter 1: Awakening

_"Mother," called out Kadaj reaching out into the dark nothingness. _

_Kadaj was all alone, surrounded by a sea of shadows. There was no light, no hope, just an empty expanse of nothingness and despair. But Mother was nearby, he could feel it. Kadaj was sure that she would acknowledge him now…_

_"I don't need a useless child like you," answered a female voice. "After all, why would I need a useless marionette like you? I already have the perfect son…"_

_"Mother!" called out Kadaj once more. "Please…"_

_"Be a good little boy and vanish into oblivion…"_

_"Mother!"_

"If you say the word "mother" one more time, I'm going to shoot you!" yelled a voice.

Kadaj opened his eyes and to his surprise, found himself lying on top of a small cot in an almost empty room. By the door stood an eighteen year old boy, with long unruly auburn hair and piercing jade-green eyes, which were giving Kadaj a death glare that would melt a glacier. Sure enough, the guy had his hand on a gun and looked as though he was really about to pull the trigger.

"I honestly don't care if you talk in your sleep from time to time," the stranger continued. "However, when you kept calling out "mother, mother", it gets really annoying after an hour!"

"Who are you?" demanded Kadaj.

"My name's Hotaka Asano, but everyone around here calls me Asano. And you are?"

"That's none of your business," muttered Kadaj as he tried to get up from the cot.

As Kadaj soon found out, trying to move at that particular moment was not a good idea. He felt a sharp pain in his side and practically fell out of the cot onto the floor. Asano watched in silent amusement as Kadaj tried to figure out what was wrong with him.

"How do I put this," muttered Asano. "Your insides weren't…well, inside of you when we first found you. So I had to shove them all back in to get you here. The doctor said that you'll be fine in about two weeks though."

"We?"

"My little brother, Hiroshi," answered Asano. "He's not here right now, but when he comes back you'd better thank him. If it was up to me, I would have left you in the snow."

"…"

"You sound as if you didn't want to be saved."

"Where am I?"

"New York City."

"New York City!"

"I take it that you're not around these parts."

"It doesn't matter…I must go…must get to the Reunion…"

Kadaj tried to get up once again, but failed miserably. Asano, with a sigh, pulled Kadaj up by the arm and set him down on the cot.

"You're not going anywhere," said Asano. "One, you can barely move and two, my little brother's going to have a fit if he finds out that I let you go while you're still injured. If you're so worried about your mommy, momma's boy, then I'll go tell her where you are myself."

"Momma's boy?"

"Since you won't tell me your name, that's good enough for you, you spoiled brat! What's your mom's name so I can look her up?"

"…Jenova."

"Alright then, I'm going out for a bit. You, on the other hand, stay put!"

Asano stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut, leaving Kadaj alone. New York City, he had never heard of this place before…Where was he? Maybe Mother would be here…

Slowly, Kadaj got up and limped towards the door. He got it open with some effort and stumbled into the hallway and eventually out the front door. Leather wasn't very good at keeping you warm in a snow storm as Kadaj soon found out. The buildings around these parts were almost completely covered in a white blanket of snow.

Nothing would stop him from reaching mother though, Kadaj didn't care what obstacle the Planet put before him; he was going to Jenova. With his mind made up, he trudged through the slush.

* * *

Asano was just about to head home from Akira's place when his phone rang. When he answered it, he was a bit surprised at what he heard. 

"Onii-chan," said his brother on the other end on the line. "Aya-san and I just got back and the guy's not here anymore. Did you take him with you?"

"Uh, yeah," replied Asano. "I thought that I'd introduce him to…some people. I gotta go now so I'll talk to you later…"

'I'm going to kill him,' thought Asano as he rushed down the alleyway. 'I'd better tell the other to keep a lookout for him'. As Asano dialed several numbers on his cell phone, he suddenly remembered something very important. Today was Tuesday, meaning…

"Oh shit!" said Asano to himself. "You stupid spoiled brat! I'm not paying your medical bills again!"

* * *

Near Central Park, one of Asano's closest friends, seventeen year old Ken Narita, was just about to head home from his girlfriend's place when Asano gave him a call. 

"Hi Hotaka," the black-haired teen said cheerfully.

"It's Asano!" yelled Asano from the other end of the line. "And we've got a problem."

"What is it?" questioned Ken, his hazel eyes becoming more serious and deadly. "I see, don't worry I'll see what I can do."

'That stranger choose a bad time to wander off,' thought Ken as he to ran down the streets and alleyways. It was almost noon; hopefully either he or Asano will be able to find the silver-haired guy before "they" do…

* * *

The streets were bare and completely deserted where Kadaj was. He didn't care though, as long as he found Mother, nothing mattered. Maybe he should have cared a bit, because unknown to him, when the clocks strike noon around these parts…

* * *

It was almost twelve and Asano still hadn't spotted the brat. Stopping dead in his tracks and yelled out into the silence 

"You stupid kid, wherever you are, get off the streets!"

Three minutes left…

* * *

NightRain0: Heh heh heh, cliffhanger! (Smiles) Happy holidays and please review! 


	3. Chapter 2

NightRain0: Yay! Chapter 2! I love winter break! (I don't own any Final fantasy characters)

Something to Life For

Chapter 2: Lost and Found

Two minutes left and Ken hadn't seen the silver-haired teen. Asano hadn't called, so Ken assumed that he had no luck either. As he ran through the empty streets, he hoped that he wouldn't be too late.

One minute left, and Asano wasn't pleased. He hadn't spotted the stupid kid and Ken hadn't called back. 'I knew he was going to be trouble,' thought Asano bitterly. 'Didn't know that he'd be more trouble than Daisuke…'

The clocks all struck twelve, and their chimes echoed eerily throughout the city. Kadaj stopped in his tracks and listened to the sound the clocks had made. He was beginning to wonder why everything was so quite, unfortunately he was about to find out…

Somewhere in the distance, Kadaj heard something. He wasn't sure what it was, but it sounded somewhat like a motorcycle. The sky seemed to become darker and the distance rumbling seemed to get louder. A dark mist suddenly appeared and the air around him seemed to become colder, if that was even possible.

Turning to face the sound of the distance noise, Kadaj saw a dark cloud in the shape of a pack of wolves approaching him. Within seconds the darkness surrounded him and the wolves were howling in such a way that it sent chills through his body and soul. Still, Kadaj held his ground, even though he was still injured he was not about to be intimidated by a bit of air.

The wolves were now beginning to circle faster and for a few seconds, it was like Kadaj was in the center of a miniature tornado. Suddenly, one of the wolves, leapt out at him and before Kadaj knew it, it had pinned him to the ground. To his surprise, when Kadaj opened his eyes, he saw that it was not a wolf that was pinning him to the ground, but a woman! The wolves around him had also changed into humans as well and their leader, a man in his late twenties, emerged from the rest and walked over to Kadaj.

"What do we have here, Bellatrix?" he asked.

"An Unregistered, Tsume," she replied as she tightened her grip on Kadaj's neck. "What shall we do with him?"

"Get off of me," choked Kadaj as he tried to kick Bellatrix off of him.

Tsume gave him a swift kick to the side in return and Bellatrix once again tighten her grip on Kadaj. Kadaj coughed up some blood when the blow hit him and glared at the two. Tsume smirked as he knelt down to get a better look at Kadaj.

"So, what's your name little cat?" Tsume asked in a mocking tone.

"I will destroy all those who try to prevent me from reaching Mother," growled Kadaj. "I will have my Reunion!"

"Oh? Really now… Did you all hear that? This little kid misses his mother…"

The rest of the group howled with laughter as Tsume kicked some snow into Kadaj's face.

"Obviously this one hasn't had much experience with the Enforcement Committee…" said Tsume.

"There you are!" called out a voice.

The Enforcement Committee and Kadaj all turned their attention to a seventeen year old boy who had suddenly appeared out behind them. Because of the teen's way of dress, it was obvious that he wasn't a part of the Committee. Unknown to Kadaj, this was Ken Narita, one of Asano's allies who was dispatched to look for him.

Ken was a bit relieved when he saw that the silver-haired teen was mostly unharmed. He wondered if it was possible to talk his way out of this one, but then again, if he had to fight, he was ready…

"I'm so sorry," apologized Ken brightly. "You see, he's a friend of mine from out of town and he didn't know…"

"Trying to talk your way out of trouble again?" questioned Tsume. "It's not going to work!"

Ken continued to smile as the Enforcement surrounded him as well. There was something about his false smile that made one wonder what he was truly thinking of…

"State your business," snarled Tsume.

"Oh dear," said Ken. "It seems as though I'll have to fight you all after all…"

No one said anything for a while; all eyes were focused on Ken and what he would do next. Ken, still smiling, removed the long narrow package that was strapped on his back and set it down in the snow.

"You all are very lucky," Ken said. "My New Year's resolution will save you a lot of trouble. What to know what it is?"

"…"

"My resolution," said Ken in a malicious tone of voice. "Is to be nicer to people, meaning…I'll kill you all quickly so that you won't have to suffer…"

The other members of the Enforcement Committee suddenly reverted to their wolf forms and leapt at Ken. Ken's hazel eyes turned into an amber color as he opened up his package. What happened next no one was quite sure, but decapitated wolves littered the ground and the snow was dyed a wine red color.

Ken stood up and appeared to be unscathed. There were two blood stained katanas in his hand and the crimson liquid was still slowly flowing down the blades of each sword.

"Oh dear," moaned Ken. "I'd just cleaned these too…"

"You!" exclaimed Tsume a bit surprised. "You're…the …."

"Too bad," said Ken. "Unlike the Tsume before you, you're not much of a challenge."

A gunshot was heard.

"Ah!" screamed Bellatrix as she suddenly fell to the ground.

As Kadaj slowly got up, he realized that blood was pouring out of her. Tsume took this chance to transform back to his wolf form and dashed away. However, another gunshot was heard, and the wolf let out a pain-stricken yelp as he fell to the ground.

"Hi Asano!" said Ken returning to his happy self as quickly as he had changed into his deadly persona.

Asano emerged from the shadows of a nearby alleyway with a still smoking gun in his hand. The first thing he did was rush over to Kadaj and gave him a quick kick to the head.

"Asano!" exclaimed Ken.

"You stupid Momma's Boy!" shouted Asano, who didn't seem to notice Ken's protests. "I told you not to move!"

"Now that wasn't very nice," said Ken but he quickly shut up once Asano gave him a death glare.

"We've still got 40 minutes," said Asano. "By now they've probably reported this incident."

"So what should we do then?" asked Ken. "They'll be sending several more of those guys out here soon."

Asano said nothing but pulled out his cell phone. While Ken seemed to understand what was happening, Kadaj looked on confused.

"Hey Akira," said Asano. "I need you to do a favor for me…"

When the government's private army appeared on the spot, they were a bit surprised to see a gigantic bell in the middle of the street.

"How did this get here?" asked one of them.

"It's a funeral bell!" questioned another.

"Yup," replied Ken as he emerged from behind the bell. "That's correct!"

"Guess who it's for?" said Asano as he pulled out his gun.

"Why you little…"

Kadaj, who was still in no condition to fight, watched silently from a distance. He didn't have his sword and for some strange reason, he couldn't summon any of his creatures. He was also a bit surprised about the funeral bell. After Asano had called the guy, Akira, the bell suddenly materialized from thin air. It was hard to explain, but the wires from the surrounding technology suddenly came to life to form the bell. Moving in a serpentine way, the wires coiled together into a bell form and then it turned into the bell!

Asano gave the bell a kick and at that moment the clocks all struck one. The streets were littered with corpses and the stench was becoming unbearable.

"I feel a bit sorry for the cleaning crew," said Ken. "I guess we'll have to apologize later…"

"You!" shouted Asano as he pointed his finger at Kadaj. "Let's go!"

"I don't mean to question your authority in your own home, Asano," said Ken cautiously. "But was this really necessary?"

When they'd returned to Asano's apartment, Asano had tied Kadaj to the cot and gagged him.

"This will save me some trouble," replied Asano as he kicked the door shut.

"You're so cruel…"

NightRain0: Don't worry you guys, Kadaj will be a bit more active later. Anyways, hoped you like it! Please review! More explanations are on the way!


	4. Chapter 3

NightRain0: Yay! Over 200 hits! A definite continue! (I don't own any Final Fantasy characters!)

* * *

Something to Life For

Chapter 3

It was five days later when Asano was willing to unchain Kadaj and let him move around the apartment on his own. While Kadaj had been chained, he pondered a bit about why his powers didn't seem to work anymore. It must have been the Planet! Once again it was stunting his growth and trying to prevent him from reaching Mother! Kadaj had made up his mind that as soon as he was free to go, he would find Mother and destroy the pitiful piece of rock.

Kadaj had just opened the door to leave the bedroom when, out of nowhere, an empty can hit him square on the face at full speed. After ricocheting off Kadaj's face, it landed into a nearby trashcan.

"Morning brat," greeted Asano.

"Asano," said Ken, who happened to stop by this morning. "That wasn't very nice…"

Ignoring Ken, Asano said to Kadaj, "Aren't you going to thank us for saving your stupid ass?"

"But, Asano, you've never thanked any…ow!"

After a swift punch to the stomach, Ken was quivering on the floor. Aya, another of Asano's 'friends', had just come in to discover what the racket was all about. One look at her and Kadaj got the feeling that she was not someone to mess around with.

"Asano!" she yelled. "What do you think you're doing? Jeez, making a racket like this at 5:00 a.m.!"

"You're voice is louder than mine…"replied Asano.

"That's not the point!"

"Anyways," interrupted Ken staggering a bit from his encounter with Asano's fist. "Shouldn't we get Akira to register ….ummm…? Sorry, I don't think I've ever gotten your name."

"I don't have to tell you," replied Kadaj rather childishly. "Why should I?"

"If you don't tell us your name so that we can properly register you," said Asano slowly. "Then we'll just have to use one of the names I've got here."

In his right hand, Asano held a roll of paper. Curious, Ken took it and looked it over. It was a rather long list, for it reached all the way to the other end of the hallway.

"Asano… these were just the nicknames you've come up with for him…" stated Ken a little surprised.

"Yup," agreed Aya taking a look. "They're all here too…from Spoiled Brat to Momma's Boy…"

"Do you really think that they'll accept names like these?"

"No," answered Asano. "But I thought that it'd be rather amusing…"

"Couldn't you have at least given him a nicer name? Like Alan or something like that?"

"What the hell!" shouted Kadaj as he snatched the paper away. They weren't kidding after all…

"Spoiled brat seems nice to me," commented Asano. "It fits his personality real well."

Suddenly, the light above them started flickering on and off, but no one paid any real attention to it. But then, the entire room started to shake as if an earthquake had come into town. What happened next, Kadaj noted, was like what happened on the streets when the funeral bell materialized out of thin air. The wires from the surrounding bits of technology came to life and were moving in snake-like movements, however, there were a few differences. Digital data appeared before them in the center of all the wire and then a blinding flash of light.

When the light faded away, Kadaj saw that before them stood a youth about the age of seventeen. With long blood-red hair and emerald green eyes, he looked rather dangerous but majestic, like a blazing fire or a phoenix.

"Hi Akira," greeted Ken enthusiastically.

"When you ask me to do a favor," said Akira in an emotionless monotone voice. "I expect that you'll get me the data quickly so that I can get the job done…"

"We've getting there," said Asano. "The momma's boy over there just hasn't given us his name yet."

"My name's Kadaj!" screamed Kadaj. He'd gotten rather fed up with Asano's nicknames for him.

As soon as he said his name, the wires in the room came to life once again and surrounded Akira. He couldn't quite hear what Akira was saying, but Kadaj heard something about rewriting… After a few seconds the wires returned to their lifeless selves and lay in their original places.

"Overwrite was complete," stated Akira.

"What?" asked Kadaj who was rather confused.

"We've Registered you into the government's database," said Asano. "Meaning you can now wonder around town without having to worry about getting arrested for not being Registered."

"It doesn't matter," muttered Kadaj. "I'm going to the Reunion!"

With that Kadaj stomped out of the room and out the door into the cold wintry streets.

"He sure seems excited about that Reunion of his," stated Ken.

"Whatever," muttered Asano as he opened up another can of coffee.

"Aren't you worried?" questioned Akira without a trace of emotion.

"Why?"

"That boy, he's an Outsider…"

"So what's your point?"

"You just let him walk outside alone with no weapons to defend himself with and he probably doesn't know where he's going…"

Asano made some sort of a gagging noise as if the coffee he was drinking went down the wrong tube. Anyone could tell by his eyes that he's completely forgotten about that little detail.

"What's wrong, Onii-chan?" asked Hiroshi who had just woken up (I don't blame him, after all that racket…)

"Nothing," muttered Asano as he reached for his trench coat. "I'm going out for a bit."

Asano was out the door in a few minutes and slammed it shut behind him. It was a few minutes before anyone else would speak.

"You're Onii-chan's a very bad liar," said Aya.

"We should go after them too," sighed Ken. "Aya, can you stay with Hiroshi?"

"Fine…I don't care."

* * *

"Hang on you stupid Momma's boy!" shouted Asano when he finally caught up with Kadaj.

"My name's Kadaj!" yelled Kadaj, a bit pissed off.

"Whatever," said Asano. "I don't know what you're going to do, but wandering off without a clue where you're going is not a good idea! Also, you don't have anything you can use to defend yourself with!"

"I can take care of myself!"

"Well you haven't been doing a real good job of it lately!"

"There you guys are!" called out Ken.

"Asano," said Akira. "There's a signal…a faint one, coming from the sector 8 region…"

"Now?" questioned Asano. "There hasn't been one in some time… Let's go then!"

"What about Kadaj?" asked Ken. "What to come along?"

"Why?" asked Kadaj.

"We're headed towards an abandoned lab," explained Ken. "It's good for sightseeing…"

'A lab,' thought Kadaj. Come to think of it…wasn't Jenova first found in some sort of lab, or something like that? It he went…maybe he'd find her…

"He'll only give us more trouble," said Asano. "I say we leave him back here…"

"I'm going," stated Kadaj.

"What!"

"I'm going to see if I can find Mother there."

"Again with this Mother stuff?" asked Asano. "Oh well, I don't care… Ken, after we pick up Daisuke we're heading over to your place."

"Huh? Why?" asked Ken.

"Because from what I know by experience, that one (points to Kadaj) is going to wander off and cause trouble. So he'll need a weapon of some sort to defend himself with."

* * *

"Daisuke lives here?" asked Kadaj out loud.

They were in a small alleyway that was basically filled up with garbage cans of all sizes. Dogs of all shapes and sizes were napping everywhere. It seemed impossible for anyone to live here! Asano and the others didn't seem surprised at all about the living conditions of the area. In fact, they seemed to know where they were going. They walked all the way towards the dead end of the alleyway and stopped in front of two trash cans.

"I forgot," said Asano. "Was it this can or that one…"

"I don't really know," replied Ken.

Both Akira and Kadaj remained silent as Asano walked up to a garbage can and gave it a kick…

* * *

NightRain0: Next chapter, we'll introduce Daisuke! Please review! 


	5. Chapter 4

NightRain0: Sorry for the late update! I was on a movie watching spree! (I don't own the Final Fantasy characters!) Happy holidays!

* * *

Something to Life For

Chapter 4

"Daisuke's…a dog?" asked Kadaj before he could stop himself.

When Asano had kicked the garbage can, a grey, rather dazed dog popped out. After giving its head a shake, it looked at them with its shining silver eyes. Asano and the others ignored Kadaj and began to talk to the dog.

"Sorry about that, Daichi," apologized Ken. "We…"

"You and that stupid mutt switched again didn't you?" questioned Asano.

"Did you have to wake me up like that?" whined Daichi. "I was having a nice dream…"

"So Daisuke's in there, correct?"

"Yup, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to sleep!"

With that, Daichi disappeared into the darkness of the garbage can. Asano gave the garbage can next to Daichi's a kick and out tumbled another dog. This one was yellow and had a pair of goggles strapped around its neck. Kadaj was sure that it was still asleep because he heard it snoring…

"Wake up you!" ordered Asano as he kicked some snow onto the dog.

"Huh?" replied a rather groggy Daisuke. "Oh, good morning…yawn…and good night…"

Daisuke crawled back into his garbage can, but that seemed to infuriate Asano more. He gave the can a swift kick to its side which sent it flying all the way to the other side of the alleyway. The dogs all started whining and barking in protest.

"Quite fooling around!" yelled Asano. "It's time to go!"

To Kadaj's surprise, a dog wasn't what emerged from the battered garbage can at the end of the alleyway, but a fifteen-year old boy! But it still had the same sapphire eyes as the dog, not to mention his blonde hair was the same shade of yellow as the dog's fur. Also, the goggles that were around his neck were in fact, the same ones the dog was wearing.

"Ow…Asano that hurt…" whimpered Daisuke. "Why are you always so mean?"

Asano gave him the all too famous Death Glare and that sent the mutt scampering for a place to hide. Daisuke transformed swiftly into his dog form and took refuge behind Ken and Kadaj.

"Who's he?" asked Daisuke, who finally noticed Kadaj.

"Oh, right," said Ken. "Daisuke, this is Kadaj. Kadaj, this is Daisuke! Now that's you've been properly introduced…um, Kadaj, why do you look so surprised?"

"How did he…He was a person a short while ago wasn't he?" questioned Kadaj a bit confused.

"What about it?" asked Asano. "This isn't the first time you've seen a Shifter."

"What's a Shifter?"

"How could you not know? You were attacked by some a short while ago!"

"I really think he doesn't know, Asano," said Ken.

"Long story short," barked Daisuke (literally). "A Shifter is what you see before you now! That is, me and the other dogs around here."

"To be precise," said Akira without any trace of emotion once again. "A Shifter is a person whose appearance can shift between a human form and a beast form."

"Daisuke!" yelped many of the dogs. "Go away! We want to sleep!"

Soon the group was chased out of the alleyways by a whole pack of dogs. Daisuke, being the fastest of the five, managed to get out of the way of the flying coke cans that came there way. Kadaj, on the other hand, chose a bad time to look back and got an empty tin can to the face.

"Believe it or not," panted Ken as he ran. "The Shifters who can turn into dogs are the nicest ones around!"

* * *

After they've caught their breath, Ken led them to his place. It was hard to believe that anyone could live in such a place. The walls of his apartment were covered with various steel weapons and he barely had a floor.

"Sorry about the mess," apologized Ken. "If I had known I was going to have some guests I would have cleaned up ages ago. Oh dear, how rude of me… I'm such a terrible host, do you all want anything to eat or drink or…"

"Shut the hell up!" ordered Asano. "We've already wasted enough time."

"Oh right! Anyways Kadaj, we can't have you wandering around here without some sort of weapon or… you get the point. So you can choose any weapon you want from what I have here, or if you can draw it out for me, then we'll be able to make it for you right here!"

Kadaj hastily drew a picture of his souba on the piece of paper Ken had offered to him. The sooner he had a weapon of some sort, the sooner he could go off on his own.

"Uh…that's a….um, really nice picture!" said Ken.

"I can't tell what it is…" stated Akira.

"You've never taken a drawing lesson in your life, did you?" asked Asano.

Daisuke didn't say anything; he was on the floor laughing. In fact, he had laughed so hard that he nearly passed out due to the lack of oxygen.

"Not to insult your artistic skills," said Ken nervously. "But it would probably save some time if you…chose something from my stock…"

* * *

Strangely enough, while digging around the various metallic weapons, Kadaj found his souba mixed in amongst the other swords! He didn't know how to explain it, but he some how knew that this sword was definitely his. How it ended up here was a mystery to Kadaj.

"Over here!" called out Asano as he led them out the back door.

In the back yard, there was a small wooden shed. When they entered it, the only thing in the entire room was a narrow tunnel. To be exact, it looked more like the bottomless pit to nowhere, however, Ken, Akira, and Daisuke all jumped in without hesitation. Asano snuck behind Kadaj and shoved him into the hole and then jumped after them.

* * *

"What was that for!" yelled Kadaj after the ride was over.

Asano ignored him and asked Akira, "Anyone else here?"

"My sensors indicate some other life forms in the area…My hypothesis is that the Knights are here as well…"

"Then let's go!"

* * *

The abandoned laboratory showed little signs of life when they entered it. Broken wires littered the area and for some strange reason, sand covered up most of the floor. Gigantic crystals attached to various machines provided the only source of light in the entire area.

"Don't touch anything," warned Asano.

This warning was directed to everyone, but Kadaj also noticed that Asano was directing the warning particularly to Daisuke. Daisuke, in human form, was just about to press a button when Asano gave him a death glare for a warning. Smiling sheepishly, the Shifter slowly inched away and hid behind Ken.

Kadaj slowly approached one of the crystals and place a hand on it. The stone suddenly came to life and emitted a blinding flash of light. A rumbling sound was heard and before they knew it, the ground below them was starting to sink! Ken and Akira were on safe ground, but Kadaj, Asano, and Daisuke were about to be swallowed up by the sand.

"Don't worry you three," stated Akira in a monotone voice. "You're just going to end up in one of the lower levels of the building…"

"Oh that's good!" said Ken happily. "For a minute there I thought that they were going to be dragged down to their deaths!"

"I told you not to touch anything you stupid spoiled brat!" yelled Asano, who was obviously pissed.

"We'll see you downstairs in a bit!" said Ken as the other three disappeared beneath the sand.

* * *

NightRain0: Happy holidays and please review: ) More explanations coming up in the future chapters! 


	6. Chapter 5

NightRain0- Yay! The SAT's are over! Now back to the story! Sorry for making you all wait so long! Please R&R!

* * *

Something to Live For

Chapter 5

After Kadaj emerged from the pile of sand he had little time to breathe the fresh air when all of a sudden, a very pissed Asano shoved his head below the sand again.

"You stupid spoiled brat," growled Asano. "I told you not to touch anything!"

"Well, well, look who it is," said a smug voice.

"Oh great…" muttered Asano. "It's Katashi…"

When Kadaj got his head out of the sand, he saw standing before them another young man about the same age as Asano. Behind Katashi stood several men and women all wearing some sort of strange armor. In Kadaj's opinion, they looked rather stupid in their clunky uniforms.

"Those are the Knights," whispered Daisuke, who was currently in dog-form.

"The Knights?" questioned Kadaj.

"They're a group trying to overthrow the government. Katashi's their leader. He's been trying to get Asano to join the group for some time…"

"Asano doesn't want to?"

"Nah, Asano just doesn't like taking orders from anyone…ow!"

"That's enough from you," said Asano after giving Daisuke a kick in to the side.

"Who's the new guy, Asano?" asked Katashi. "Another Altered?"

"No, he's just a pain in the ass," answered Asano.

"Tell me, Asano, why would you waste your time with the Altered? They're not worth the effort. What the…?"

The wires around them suddenly glowed with an eerie green light and began to come alive. Before most of the Knights knew it, the wires had coiled around their necks and lifted them up into the air! Asano and Daisuke didn't seem at all surprised, however.

"Akira!" yelled Ken. "Put them down! I know that they weren't very polite, but honestly! Remember your manners! It's not nice to kill people without warning them first!"

"It would be more logical if we destroy the competition," replied Akira emotionlessly as his eyes also glowed with the same green color as the wires. "And warning people is overrated."

"Akira, put them down," ordered Asano.

They all stood in silence for a few seconds, and then with a sigh, Akira closed his eyes and the wires returned to their lifeless selves once more. The members of Knights crashed onto the ground with a thud, but were up within a few seconds and aimed their weapons at Akira.

"You brought the computer too…" muttered Katashi.

"I'd leave now if I were you," warned Asano. "Because I may change my mind about letting you live…"

The Knights turned to Katashi, who reluctantly gave the hand signal and within a few minutes, the Knights were gone.

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Asano as Kadaj walked off.

"To find Mother," was the reply.

"What's with him and finding this 'Mother'?" asked Daisuke. "And more importantly, why would she be here? Whoever lives here has bad taste!"

"You live in a trash can, Daisuke," said Akira.

"So what's your point?"

"Forget about it," ordered Asano. "Let's go get that item before the Knights do."

"I still don't get it," whined Daisuke as the three of them walked away. "What does me living in a trash can have to do with anything?"

Ken remained silent as he watched the other three walk down the hallway. Then he looked down the other hallway where Kadaj had gone and stood there with a thoughtful look on his face…

* * *

As Kadaj walked alone down the empty hallway, he began to think about Mother and what he meant to her. Would she love him now? Or will she continue to use him like a puppet as she had before? Maybe, just maybe, she would now accept him as her son…

"Mother," he said. "What am I to you?"

Kadaj, who wasn't really paying attention to where he was going suddenly tripped over a wire and fell to the ground. He wasn't all too happy when he got back up and realized how pathetic he must have looked. However, when he tried to cut off the wire which had wrapped around his leg with his souba another wire suddenly shot out from nowhere and jerked his weapon from his hand.

"What!" exclaimed Kadaj as the wires lifted him up into the air.

"Intruder detected…" spoke a chameleon like machine. "Deletion required…"

"Don't move, Kadaj!" called out Ken as he sliced the machine into two pieces.

* * *

"I didn't need your help," growled Kadaj as he got up to his feet.

"You're just like Asano," sighed Ken. "You two never remember to say thank you! Manners are very important you know!"

"Just leave me alone!"

"Why are you acting this way? Did you get dropped on your head when you were a kid or something? Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?"

"I…it's none of your business…"

"Maybe, but you still owe me a thank you!"

"Your attitude…it's annoying…"

"Well, that wasn't very nice… oh well; we'll work on your manners later. By the way, how did you activate that old piece of machinery anyways?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about that," said Ken as he pointed to the dismantled remains of the machine. "The androids in this lab had been inactive for quite some time, and it's not like them to just simply wake up without warning… What did you do, besides trip over the wire?"

Kadaj didn't have a chance to answer Ken when the dark hallway they were in lit up. The old building shook wildly, causing some of the loose equipment to come crashing down on top of the two boys.

"Well, this is certainly not one of my better days," muttered Ken as he brushed off the dust from his clothes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," replied Kadaj. "What was that!"

The old rusted androids which were supposedly out of order seemed to be functioning quite well and were advancing towards them by the hundreds!

"Is this your doing?" questioned Ken.

"No! I didn't do anything!"

"Well, there's only one thing to do at a time like this!"

"What's that?"

"Run!"

* * *

"Did you guys here anything?" asked Daisuke.

"What are you talking about, mutt?" demanded Asano.

"Something's not right," continued Daisuke. "The smell…something's definitely not right!"

"You're just probably hallucinating again," said Asano. "So a few lights came on, that's not… Akira?"

There was something wrong with the redhead, his eyes were blank and empty and he wasn't moving.

"What's wrong with you?" demanded Asano. "You'd better not be…"

"Asano, look!" yelled Daisuke, his eyes wide with shock.

"What the hell is that?"

* * *

NightRain0: The next chapter will be better! Promise! Until next time! Bye bye! 


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